<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Lesson Number 1: Monsters are Real by blueye22</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23793574">Lesson Number 1: Monsters are Real</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueye22/pseuds/blueye22'>blueye22</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Lessons in Hunting [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abduction, Alternate Universe, Attempted Murder, Bottom Cas Big Bang 2019 (Supernatural), Bottom Castiel (Supernatural), Childhood Trauma, Childhood abandonment, Human Anael "Jo" Novak, Human Castiel (Supernatural), Human used as a blood source, Hunter Dean Winchester, Hunter Sam Winchester, M/M, Search and Rescue, Top Dean Winchester, Vampires, physical assault, power bottom cas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:42:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>20,143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23793574</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueye22/pseuds/blueye22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Anael "Jo" Novak goes missing during a hike in the mountains with her boyfriend, worried brother, Castiel, goes in search of her. Castiel is surprised to receive the help of FBI agents, Dean and Sam. But what are they hiding?</p>
<p>Bottom Cas Big Bang<br/>Artist: Kuwlshadow<br/>Beta Reader: Elodia</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Lessons in Hunting [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714174</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bottom Cas Big Bang 2019</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Beginning of the End of Normal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, nor do I own their characters. I am not making a profit from this fanfiction work. </p>
<p>Hi everyone! Here is my story for the 2019 Bottom Cas Big Bang! The beautiful art work is from the amazing Kuwlshadow (AO3 Username). Please go send her some love! And my beta reader is awesome Elodia (AO3 Username)! Thank you both so much for the hard work you put into helping make this work happen! I am so excited to share this story, and it will be the start of a series I will call: Lessons in Hunting. Enjoy!</p>
<p>PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO TAG WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS!</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>When Anael "Jo" Novak goes missing during a hike in the mountains with her boyfriend, worried brother, Castiel, goes in search of her. Castiel is surprised to receive the help of FBI agents, Dean and Sam. But what are they hiding?</p><p>Bottom Cas Big Bang 2019<br/>Artist: Kuwlshadow<br/>Beta Reader: Elodia</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, nor do I own their characters. I am not making a profit from this fanfiction work.</p><p>Hi everyone! Here is my story for the 2019 Bottom Cas Big Bang! The beautiful art work is from the amazing Kuwlshadow (AO3 Username). Please go send her some love! And my beta reader is awesome Elodia (AO3 Username)! Thank you both so much for the hard work you put into helping make this work happen! I am so excited to share this story, and it will be the start of a series I will call: Lessons in Hunting. Enjoy!<br/>https://kuwlshadow.tumblr.com/post/616123890761138176/title-lesson-number-1-monsters-are-real-author<br/>https://imgur.com/I7v0ZXW</p><p>PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO TAG WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div><br/><p>     Anael “Jo” Novak let loose a curse as her hiking boot slipped on…surprise, surprise…more jagged rocks, on a jagged hill, in the fucking jagged mountains. She should have never come here with Greg. Their relationship was over long before this hiking trip was even a thought…there was no saving it. Hiking wasn’t even her idea. No, it was his because God forbid they hop onto a plane, and go somewhere with beaches and skinny dipping. Not that there was anything wrong with hiking, it was great for those who truly do enjoy it like her brother, Cas, who likes to run the trails with his tree trunks for thighs. But Jo? Nope. Give her nude beaches and tanning anytime.</p><p>     She gave a longing groan at the thought that she could be nursing this recent break up with naked sunbathing, margaritas, and some, <em>thorough</em>, massages. But no. Greg wanted to do hiking, despite Jo’s dislike of it and that there were plenty of other activities they both enjoyed doing, because the asshole does not have the word “compromise” in his vocabulary. But Jo wanted to try and make things work because before shit hit the fan, they actually had fun together. Instead, they fought the whole way and Jo apparently thought the perfect time to ask if there was someone else would be when they were 5 hours into their hike. Guess what? There is someone else, but spoiler alert…SHE’S THE FUCKING MISTRESS! Greg has the whole shebang: a wife, two kids, minivan, a house with a white picket fence, and a fucking dog named Sally.</p><p>     Cas was right about him. Greg is a “total assbutt” and she deserves better. She’ll never hear the end of the “I told you so’s” from Cas when she is back in the city and reclined on his couch with a glass of wine. Jo paused as she searched her surroundings for anything familiar, and let out a whine when she didn’t see any. She was so mad when Greg admitted he had a family, she just grabbed her backpack and stormed off. She should have ignored Greg’s damaged ego at the idea of her having a map instead of relying on him to lead the way, and grabbed her own fucking map at the Ranger’s station. She has been walking for what seems like hours now, and she does not see anything familiar. Granted, it’s not like she was looking out for any markers that would stand out when she and Greg were arguing, so nothing would look familiar anyways. But shouldn’t she have seen any of the park’s mile marker signs by now? Or seen other hikers? Did she stray away from the trail somehow? Ugh. She can just hear the <em>at least </em>hour long lecture she is going to get from Cas when she finally gets back into town. Maybe she can distract him with an animal documentary on Netflix? A snap of a twig tore her from her thoughts. Jo jerked her body in the direction the snap came from, her long pony tail slapping her neck.</p><p>     “Greg?”</p><p>     Silence….and then another twig snapped, this time from directly behind her. She whirled around and called out, “Fuck off, Greg! You <em>disgust </em>me, and I never want to see you again!” There were two more twig snaps to her right, causing her to spin her body again to that direction. “I mean it, Greg! This isn’t funny!” There was still only silence, until she heard what sounded like a branch falling behind her. She spun around to once again nothing. Just as she was about to yell again, she heard the sound of stomps on the ground. Someone was coming at her. Before she could turn around again, there was a sharp pain on the back of her head. Her whole body swayed before the ground was rushing up to meet her. Then everything went black.</p>
<hr/><p>     Castiel “Cas” Novak ignored the “Ranger of the Month” sign as he pulled his truck to a stop in front of the ranger’s station, and slammed the truck door hard as soon as he was out of it and heading towards the station’s entrance. Shoving the door open brought all eyes on him as he stomped his way into the small station. Ignoring all stares, including a glare from an older lady, he made his way to the front desk.</p><p>     “My name is Castiel Novak. I called ahead,” he informed the ranger, her nametag read Sue.</p><p>     “Hi, Mr. Novak. Like I said on the phone, I cannot share with you information on our sign-in logs. It is confidential…,” Sue started to explain.</p><p>     “And as I have said numerous times, my sister is <em>missing</em>,” Cas interrupted the ranger.</p><p>     “I truly am sorry to hear that. Have you checked her apartment? Her work? A friend’s or partner’s house, maybe?”</p><p>     “Do you think I would be here if I hadn’t? She went missing <em>here</em>. Is this station responsible for the safety of the people here, or not,” Cas snapped at the ranger, all patience gone.</p><p>     “Sir, I sympathize with your situation, but if there were <em>any </em>discrepancies with our logs, we would have been alerted. I have no alerts here.”</p><p>      Cas’s glare moved from the ranger to a dark blue binder that had been left on the edge of the podium. Cas pointed to it, “Is that the log?”</p><p>     “Yes, but…” Cas snatched it away before the ranger could grabbed it. He ignored the dignified, “Hey!,” from the ranger as he took a step back. He leafed through the pages, frantically searching for the day his sister and that assbutt would have arrived. When he finally found it, he quickly found their names, and slammed it back down on the podium. He pointed to his sister’s sign-in, “There. That is my sister. There is no return time or signature. There is your discrepancy.”</p><p>     The ranger let out a huff, but frowned down at the sign-in sheet before beginning to rapidly type away at the computer. Sue finally looked back up at Cas to say, “There is a note here that the person she came with, a Mr. Greg Thomas, informed the ranger on shift that she had left earlier and must have got her own ride back. Your sister must have forgotten to sign out. Perhaps she is with Mr. Thomas.”</p><p>     “He’s not answering his phone either,” but Cas left out the part that it was likely due to the fact that the assbutt doesn’t like Cas any more than Cas likes him, and instead stated, “and she wouldn’t have forgotten to sign out.”</p><p>     “It happens all the time, sir,” The ranger tried to gently explain.</p><p>     “She wouldn’t,” Cas snapped, louder than he attended, and he felt the eyes of everyone back on him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “I’m sorry. It’s just…she wouldn’t, okay? She hates hiking and camping with a passion, but she knows the importance of safety procedures. She wouldn’t skimp on that. She wouldn’t…she wouldn’t do that to me,” Cas desperately explained as he tried to shove away painful memories. It definitely wouldn’t do to think of those now. Cas looked back at the ranger, “Look, I don’t <em>want </em>her to be missing, but she’s not home, or work, or her usual hang outs. No one has seen or heard from her, and it’s already been two days since they signed-in for their hike. Something is <em>wrong</em>,” he pleaded with the ranger to understand. He could see that her eyes were softening, but he had a feeling he was about to get a lecture about limited resources. So he’ll beat her to the punch.</p><p>     “Her name is Anael Josaline Novak, but she likes to go by ‘Jo.’ She has long auburn hair and brown eyes,” he quickly reached for his wallet, pulled out a picture of her, and handed it over, “Here is a picture of her.” He pointed outside to the parking lot, “I saw working security cameras out there. You can pull up the recordings for the past few days right? If anything, it’ll confirm if she really did make it back to the parking lot and got a ride. You can do that, right?”</p><p>     “I…,” Sue looked as if she would argue, but then her eyes softened and her shoulders drooped before saying, “Yes…yes, I can do that.” Cas’s own shoulders dropped and he let go of a breath he didn’t realize he was holding as the ranger started typing away at the keyboard again, likely pulling up the security videos. “Thank you,” Cas stated softly. He finally let his wary eyes search throughout the station. People have finally stopped staring, or glaring, at him. Two men grabbed his attention. One was very tall with hair down slightly past his ears. He appeared to be focused on the information board. The other man was tall as well, but closer to Cas’s height, maybe only a couple of inches taller. From where Cas was standing, he couldn’t see details, but he could see that the man had brown hair and broad shoulders…and so very handsome. He wasn’t flexing his muscles or doing anything ridiculous as an attempt to show off, but he could see the strength in this man just by how he carried himself: his back and shoulders straight, firm stance, and his eyes travelling around the room as if he was surveilling. Any other day this man would have brought forth all kinds of fantasies, and Cas would have even approached him for his number. But this was not any other day as the brief distraction he had from his fears for his sister’s safety came back to full force.</p><p>     “Sir?”</p><p>     Cas quickly turned back to Sue, who was giving him a concern frown, “It will take a while to sort through the security videos. The park has a motel up the road. Why don’t you go check in, and get some rest? All of the videos will have been sorted through by tomorrow morning.” Cas blinked and looked out the windows once again to see the sky in shades of pink and orange. The sun was starting to set. Another night where Jo could be alone and lost in the mountains. “Your sister wrote down the motel as where she was staying,” Sue went on to explain, “maybe you’ll find more information there.” The ranger was being nice about it, but Cas could see the dismissal for what it was. He didn’t want to push his already strained luck by arguing, so he gave a nod.</p><p>     “Thank you. After I buy some supplies. If she didn’t make it back, I’m going looking for her,” Cas explained.</p><p>     “Sir, <em>if </em>that is the case, it’s best to leave searches to the,” but Cas cut the ranger off.</p><p>     “No,” he spoke sharply again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before stating in a quieter voice, “I’ll go crazy if I have to wait around. I <em>will </em>be a part of the search.” Then grabbed a shopping basket, and went in search of hiking of supplies.</p>
<hr/><p>     When the man had first burst through the station and he got a good glimpse at that dark hair, chiseled face, and…<em>oh fuck</em>…those power thighs, and Dean Winchester’s first thought was: <em>Oh baby, pin me down and ride my dick till I see stars</em>. Dean didn’t have any doubt the man could with those thighs and…<em>fuck again</em>…those biceps. But then he heard bits and pieces of what was being said, and his libido was instantly chilled to be replaced with sympathy. Poor guy’s sister is missing. Dean would be acting like that, and probably worse, if it was his little brother, Sammy, alone out there. Especially with all the dangers that lurk in the woods, and he’s not talking bears and mountain lions.</p><p>     Dean looked over to Sam, who was still reviewing flyers on the information board. Looking for any missing persons reports. There wasn’t any on there, but it looks like one would be added soon. “Poor guy,” Dean whispered at his brother, “do you think this could be related to our monster?”</p><p>     “I don’t know,” Sam stated with a concerned frown as he peaked over at the man who appeared to be browsing for supplies, “none of the victims were gone long enough to be reported missing. If whatever we are hunting has had her this long without her body turning up, it could be that she is still alive.” Sam gave a confused frown until his eyes made their way back to the information board where weather reports were also posted. “Which makes sense actually,” Sam stated as he continued to study the weather reporting. Dean’s eyes travelled between Sam and the board before giving an annoyed huff.</p><p>     “Care to share, Sammy,” Dean asked, earning an annoyed glare from his brother.</p><p>     “It’s ‘Sam’,” his brother stated before pointing towards the weather reports, “today’s the last day before the cold front comes in. That will mean less hikers and less chances for food for whatever it is.”</p><p>     Dean’s confused brow lines finally relaxed as he said, “So it might be looking to store food for the winter.”</p><p>     “Could mean she is still alive,” Sam offered with a small, hopeful smile.</p><p>     Dean looked back over at the man, who was now looking at water filtration supplies. For his sake and his sister’s, Dean hoped that was the case. Dean looked down at the police photos Sam was able to hack from the ranger station’s systems. The bodies had been completely mauled. To the locals it looked to be an animal attack, by possibly a grizzly bear or mountain lion, but Dean’s trained eyes saw the hidden details. He saw where the monster tried to make the claw marks look random, but it is impossible to be random on purpose. After a few closer looks, Dean saw the uniformity in the claw marks and locations. He also noticed that for what was supposed to be an animal attack, not a single bite mark or tooth indention was found. At least according to the coroner’s report they were also able to hack.</p><p>      “Any thoughts on what we might be dealing with,” Dean whispered.</p><p>      His brother gave a frustrated huff before whispering back, “I don’t know. At this point it could be anything from vampires, to werewolves, or even wendigos.” Sam frowned down at the pictures in the open file in Dean’s hand before saying, “I need a closer look at the bodies and whatever evidence may have been gathered. There was a note in the system that the medical examiner still had the most recent victim because no one has yet to come forward to identify the body. We just need to find out where the medical examiner’s office is.”</p><p>      Dean looked back at the desk for the ranger on shift, and saw her focus on the computer screens. Occasionally pressing a few keys. He had overheard the man mention security cameras to the ranger earlier, and figured that was what she was reviewing right now. The security cameras were the first thing he noticed when he pulled up to the station earlier. He quickly approached the ranger’s podium, and let his face stretch into an easy smile. He quickly flashed his fake FBI badge, “Hi. I’m Agent Ford with the FBI. My partner and I are looking into the recent deaths here. Can you tell me where the medical examiner’s office is that is holding the victims’ bodies?”</p><p>       “Victims,” the ranger stated with a frown, before her eyebrows suddenly shot up to ask, “do you mean the animal attacks?” When Dean gave his affirming nod, the ranger’s confused frown was back, “Why would the FBI be looking into those?”</p><p>       “We always double check these things. You’d be surprised how many psychos try to make the bodies look like they were attacked by animals.”</p><p>       The ranger looked to be about to respond when they were both interrupted by a voice from behind Dean.</p><p>       “Bodies? What do you mean by bodies?”</p><p>       Dean nearly winced when he recognized that deep, gravelly voice to be the man whose sister is missing. The ranger is now giving Dean a withering look. This time Dean did wince, and mouthed ‘sorry’ to her.</p><p>       “What is going on here? What bodies? Are people getting hurt here? Why aren’t there any warnings posted,” the brother continued with his frantic questions.</p><p>       “Mr. Novak, I assure you, what the agent mentioned is a separate circumstance,” the ranger quickly stated in a soothing tone.</p><p>       Novak did not appeared to have heard the ranger as his tanned face suddenly drained of all of its color, “Is there…has a body been found? Did you…did you find my…” He was stuttering now, struggling to get the sentence out, but Dean and the ranger quickly discovered what he was afraid to ask, as they both started to shaking their heads.</p><p>       “No,” the ranger quickly stated, “Mr. Novak, I promise you, if anything of the sort had happened you would have been told.”</p><p>       At this point, Dean stepped forward and held up his badge to Novak, “I’m Agent Ford. I promise no bodies have been found in the past few days. Why don’t we go outside to speak more privately. I promise to explain everything there.” Novak flicked wary eyes between Dean and the ranger. Any other day and circumstance, Dean would be getting lost in those vibrant blue eyes. Those blue eyes rested back on the ranger, this time for a moment longer, and the ranger must have done something to reassure Novak because he flicked his eyes back to Dean and gave an affirming nod. Dean gave him a gentle smile before taking out his fake FBI business card and giving it to the ranger.</p><p>      “Here, give me a call too once you are done viewing the security tapes,” he paused for a moment before pulling out his credit card also to state, “and you can put Mr. Novak’s items on my card.” Dean gave a quick nod in Sam’s direction, who was already making his way over for damage control. “My partner, Agent Hamil, will take care of the rest.”</p><p>      Novak was giving him a suspicious look, but followed him outside none the less. Dean didn’t have time to get the guy’s first name before the folder Dean had been carrying of the scene photos was snatched out of his hand.</p><p>      “Hey, no, you don’t want to see those,” Dean tried, but it was too late. Novak opened the folder to be greeted with the gruesome scene of the most recent victim’s mauled body. The reaction was instantaneous. Whatever color that was still on Novak’s face quickly drained away as he let out choked gasp. Dean gently removed the folder from Novak’s hand to set it aside before gently leading Novak to a bench near the entrance into the station. As soon as Novak was seated, Dean was crouching down in front of him.</p><p>      “I’m sorry you had to see those. Is…is the one in the picture your sister,” Dean gently asked.</p><p>      Novak squeezed his eyes shut, but quickly shook his head. Dean bit his lower lip in thought as he tried to ascertain if the man was saying that in denial or if that truly was not his sister. He cleared his throat uncomfortably as he asked, once again gently, “You are certain?” Novak rapidly nodded.</p><p>      “She…she h-has a-au,” Novak tried to choke out, but let out a curse in frustration before pulling out his phone from his pocket, and was flipping through it in seconds. He flipped the phone around and Dean was greeted with a picture of Novak, hugging from behind a beautiful woman with long auburn hair, brown eyes, and a bright smile. Dean’s tense shoulders sagged in relief. She wasn’t the victim in the morgue, and her picture didn’t match the pictures of any of the other victims.</p><p>      “Alright, thank you for showing me that. I can confirm she does not match the pictures of any of the victims,” when Novak didn’t say anything he leaned over to meet those beautiful blue eyes. “Hey, the victims were found pretty quickly. So, unless we have proof of otherwise, your sister will be presumed to be alive and in duress.”</p><p>      Novak nodded before taking a deep breath. He suddenly let out a dry huff before saying, “Just don’t let her hear you call her ‘damsel’,” the man said dryly. Dean let out a chuckle as he replied, “She sounds feisty. Can’t wait to meet her,” Dean stated sincerely, wanting to instill some encouragement. Novak glanced at Dean and gave a small, grateful smile. That was when Sam exited the station. Dean excused himself, and walked over to Sam who had moved closer to Baby for some privacy.</p><p>      “So the recent victim’s body is back down the mountain at the city’s medical examiner’s office, and if we want to see it, we need to tonight. The body was finally identified and is being transferred to the funeral home first thing in the morning,” Sam quickly whispered.</p><p>      Dean rubbed at his eyes in frustration as he let out a curse, “And if we are wrong about his sister being a feeding source, we need to move fast. It’s already been two days.” Dean looked back at Novak, and tilted his head in thought as he finally took notice of what the man was wearing: khaki cargo pants, dark gray polyester t-shirt, and hiking boots. Dean glanced down at Novak’s items that Sam had bagged up, and confirmed that everything you need for a few days of hiking was in there, including warm clothing for when it gets colder over the next few days. There was even enough supplies for his sister…if she is found. The man may not be a hunter of the supernatural, but he knew how to take care of himself in the wild. Dean was already heading towards the trunk of Baby where his bag was at. Sam must have caught on to what Dean was thinking, because he was instantly rushing after him.</p><p>      “No,” Sam stated, “no, no, no, no. Absolutely not. Dean, the man is distraught,” at the look that Dean gave him Sam held up his hands, “Understandably. <em>Of course</em>, he is going to be distraught, but it will get the both of you killed. Not to mention he has no idea what he is getting into.”</p><p>      “Look, Sam. We cannot waste any time that can be spent looking for his sister, and someone has to be at the medical examiner’s office tonight to find out what we are dealing with,” Dean jerked his head in Novak’s direction, “and I know a stubborn brother when I see one. He’s going looking for her whether it’s with me or alone. All of our chances of getting out of this alive depends on if we work together, rather than against each other.” Dean pulled out his extra satellite phone from his bag and tossed it to Sam, “The service out here is going to be shitty, so use that to get in touch with me.”</p><p>      When Sam continued to give him a stern glare, Dean rolled his eyes before saying, “Look, there has only been one victim at a time, so we are likely only dealing with one monster, maybe two. And I may even be able to pull it off without him being any the wiser of what goes bump in the night. I’ve dealt with worse odds, man.” Dean knew he won when Sam’s shoulders dropped in a resigned sigh, so he continued with, “Make sure you jot down where all of the victims are being buried at, we are going to need to salt and burn their bodies after this.” That earned him an annoyed huff and glare.</p><p>      “Duh…jerk,” Sam stated with the slightest hint of a smile.</p><p>      “Bitch,” Dean automatically responded before grabbing his bag and heading back to Novak. He was relieved to see some of the color return to his face. Dean dropped his bag next to the silver truck before crouching down in front of Novak once again.</p><p>      “Hey, you shouldn’t be driving, so let’s see your keys. I’m going to take us up to the motel. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so we need to make sure we get plenty of rest.” At Novak’s confused frown, Dean went on to say, “Unless you will listen to me, and stay put while we go looking for her,” he asked with a raised eyebrow. When that earned him a defiant glare, he huffed out a laugh before saying, “Yeah, that’s what I thought. So, <em>together</em>, you and I will start our search first thing in the morning.”</p><p>      Dean was subject to a suspicious stare before finally Novak gave an affirming nod, and Dean coughed up the immediate pleased feeling he got at that to be relief that he wouldn’t have to worry about Novak rushing in blind. Dean let go a friendly, and possibly flirty, smile as he asked, “So, Mr. Novak, can I know that first name?”</p><p>      “It’s…it’s ‘Castiel,’ but everyone calls me ‘Cas.’”</p><p>      “Alright, Cas,” he held out his hand, “I’m Dean.”</p>
<hr/><p>      Cas was relieved when Dean finally pulled up to the motel. He hadn’t realized how exhausted he was and on how little sleep he was running on until he and Dean were situated in his truck, and Dean was heading up the mountain to the motel. Cas feared if it took any longer he would have to subject Dean to snoring and drool.</p><p>      “Alright, here we are. Home sweet home for the near future,” Dean joked. Cas could only give a small smile back, still unsure of what to make of the charismatic man. One minute he is adorably shy, and the next he is laying on the charm like he was born with it. Cas could only imagine that this handsome, freckle-faced man with those gorgeous green eyes had no trouble finding company for the night. Had Cas been within his element, he would have ended this farce by now, and ask to take Dean home with him. He had a feeling that Dean would have done the same. But this was not their element. Well, it wasn’t Cas’s element. Dean seemed somewhat…comfortable in this situation. Cas had to wonder how often Dean found himself in these types of situations, and had to immediately squash the jealous feeling that those thoughts brought forth. The sound of Dean clearing his throat brought Cas’s attention back to him.</p><p>     “So, I was going to check in with the motel manager. What do you say to sharing a double?”</p><p>     Cas blinked at the question before giving a sardonic smile, “You just want to keep an eye on me. Thought I was going to take off on my own, huh?” That flush that Cas’s accusation brought on was adorable, and brought forth images that involved Cas sitting on this man’s dick and making him scream. Perhaps in another life, thought Cas as he shoved away the longing feelings.</p><p>      “Um…well, yes,” Dean winced before hurrying along with, “Look, Cas, I know this hiking stuff is your thing, but dealing with dangerous situations is mine. I know what I am doing, and I really think it is in your sister’s best interest if we work together.”</p><p>      Cas, of course, had already come to that conclusion earlier back at the station when Dean offered to search for Jo together. He had been grateful, actually, that Dean was not going to try and sideline him. That being said. Cas couldn’t pass up an opportunity to tease another adorable flush on those freckled cheeks. Just for this moment before he had to go back to the real world with fears for his only sister’s life.</p><p>      “Yes, Dean,” Cas finally answered with a smirk, “I’ll room with you.”</p><p>      It gave the desired effect and soon Dean was stammering, “Yes…um…well, that’s good.” Movement out of the corner of Cas’s eye caused him to turn his head to look, and he was out of his truck in an instant. Behind him there were sounds of Dean scrambling out of the truck, and calling out for him, but Cas ignored him. Instead he began storming up to the unsuspecting man before him. The man finally turned to look who was approaching him, and Greg’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw Cas, and began backing away from Cas’s advancing form.</p><p>      “C-Cas?!”</p><p>      “Where is she?”</p><p>      “W-what are you doing here?”</p><p>      “Do not ask stupid questions. Where is she?”</p><p>      “Who?”</p><p>      By that point, Greg had nearly backed himself against the motel building. Cas decided to help him along the rest of the way. He took two large steps towards the man, and shoved him against the stoned wall, pinning the man in place with his forearm.</p><p>      “WHERE IS MY SISTER,” Cas roared in his face.</p><p>      “Look I don’t know, alright,” Greg shouted.</p><p>      “You were the last person she was with. You expect me to believe you know <em>nothing</em>,” Cas growled out.</p><p>      “She’s the one that took off, okay? We had a fight, she got mad, and she took off. She didn’t come back, so I left.”</p><p>      Cas’s glare hardened and he shoved Greg even harder into the sharp, brick wall of the motel, hearing footsteps coming up to his side. He didn’t have to look to know it was Dean.</p><p>      “So you just left my sister all alone out there,” Cas whispered, his tone flat and cold.</p><p>      “Wow, man, you are a <em>dick</em>,” he heard Dean speak up next to him. Cas felt annoyance at the interruption, but ignored it in favor of getting more information.</p><p>      “Where did you two have the fight? What were your coordinates,” Cas demanded.</p><p>      “How am I supposed to know that,” Greg shouted, prompting Cas to shove him even harder, and he relished in the pained wince that earned him.</p><p>      “I suggest you start remembering,” Cas threatened again.</p><p>      Suddenly they were interrupted again, this time by Dean smacking a folded up map on Greg’s forehead.</p><p>      “Hey, Dickhead, eyes over hear.” Greg swallowed as Cas’s stare refused to waiver, and finally looked over at Dean, who by now had the map of the national park opened in front of him. “Where were you when you had the fight,” Dean asked. Greg sent a wary glance towards Cas, who narrowed his eyes in response and said, “The man asked you a question.” Greg gulped again before looking back at the map. After a moment, Greg pointed hesitantly to a clear area on the map.</p><p>      “You went <em>off </em>the trail,” Cas growled out.</p><p>      “Man, you are an <em>idiot</em>,” Dean spoke up from beside him. This time Cas did glare at him for the interruption. Dean only reacted with an innocent surprise to say, “What? I’m agreeing with you.”</p><p>      “Look, no,” Greg spoke up impatiently, and pointed again at the map, “see those clusters of boulders right there. That clearing right there, just before the boulders, is where we had the argument. People who hike here know about them, and hike to them all of the time. There are markings on them. There is no official trail because the terrain to them is too rough for beginners.” And this idiot took his sister, who was a beginner, on this trail anyways. The rage bubbling up inside must have reached his eyes because Greg’s complexion paled when he looked back at Cas.</p><p>      “If anything happens to her,” Cas began softly, “and I do mean anything. I don’t care how far you run. I will find you, and I will rip you apart.” Cas finally shoved the man away, who quickly took off in the other direction.</p><p>      There was a moment of silence before Dean spoke up again, and Cas was warmed to see the hopeful smile on his face. “See? We have a lead now,” he slapped Cas’s arm with the folded up map, “we make a great team already.” Cas returned his smile with a grateful one of his own. That was when the adrenaline from the previous few moments faded, and his brain reminded him he hasn’t slept by making him let out a big yawn. That brought on a chuckle from, Dean, who stated, “Why don’t I go get us a key.” Then headed for the motel manager’s building.</p><p>      An hour and two showers later, Dean’s and Cas’s peaceful silence as they got ready for bed was interrupted by the shrill ringing of a phone from the end table by Dean’s bed. Dean tried to be subtle about it, but Cas caught the quick glance Dean sent his way before grabbing the phone and shutting himself up in the bathroom. Cas glared at the closed bathroom door. If that phone call had to do with his sister, he deserved to know what it was about. He didn’t need to be coddled. Cas shot up from the bed and quietly approached the closed bathroom door. The door was already thick, and on top of that Dean was whispering, so it made it next to impossible to hear anything. He caught the word fang and…vampire? What the hell? Cas leaned closer to try and hear what was being said, but the phone call already ended. Cas hurriedly moved away from the door, and back to his side of the room. He look at the clean bed sheets and the plush pillow, and decided to save it for the morning. Cas crawled in, and was asleep in seconds.</p>
<hr/><p>     When Dean finally stepped out of the bathroom trying, for all of the world, to look innocent of any secret phone calls, he was greeted with Cas already asleep. Dean let loose a sigh of relief. He felt guilty about hiding things from Cas, but if it can be helped, Dean would do anything he can to keep Cas and his sister ignorant of the things that go bump in the night. He tipped toed to his duffle bag to double check his hunting supplies. Sam had called to relay the news that he found a vampire tooth in the victim’s remains. Which meant there was a vampire lair somewhere in the mountains of the park. Likely chosen because of all the possible hideaways, and frequent food source. That frequent food source being human.</p><p>     Of course this also meant that Dean’s theory was likely correct. If Cas’s sister’s body still hasn’t turned up by now, there was a very good chance they were keeping her as a food source for the winter for when the number of park visitors dwindle down to close to nothing. The vampire likely chose the park because it thought everyone, including hunters, would chalk all of the recent attacks up to animal attacks. If Sam and Dean look hard enough later, they would likely find news of deaths of animal attacks in nearby towns as well, as a way to keep all suspicions away from the park. The monsters must think the Winchester’s were idiots, Dean thought with an eye roll. The other good news is they were likely only dealing with one vampire, two at the most, due to their only being one body attacked at a time. That will make getting rid of this vampire or vampires easier. Dean sent another glance to the sleeping form across the room, thinking he may even be able to pull it off with Cas none the wiser. Dean triple checked all of his supplies, and moved everything he would need for a vampire kill into a smaller back pack. Dean just hoped they find the lair quick enough once they find the clearing Greg and Jo had their argument at. Dean made sure his dad’s journal was in the backpack before zipping it back up and heading to bed. Like Cas, he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.</p><p>   The next morning, at 5:00am, found Dean entering their motel room with two cups of coffee and a bag full of bagels and cream cheese. Cas was already tying up his hiking boots, and looking like the biggest, most adorable grump ever while doing so. Cas must not be a morning person, Dean thought with a chuckle.</p><p>   “I brought something to get our energy up for the hike. Coffee and bagels,” Dean answered with a cheery smile, which earned him an adorable squinty glare.</p><p>   “You must be a morning person,” Cas stated with a sigh as he grabbed the cup of coffee from Dean’s hand and did not even hesitate to take a big swig of it. Cas took a longer look at him this time, but then his coffee cup paused in its approach towards Cas as he gave a harder stare at Dean.</p><p>   “What,” Dean asked with a frown.</p><p>   “I thought you said you’ve done this before,” Cas accused.</p><p>   “Done what before,” Dean asked, confused frown only deepening.</p><p>   “You said you’ve gone hiking before,” Cas clarified.</p><p>   “What makes you think I haven’t,” Dean asked with his best innocent smile.</p><p>   Cas eyes travel up and down Dean’s body, who still flushed despite the critical expression in Cas’s eyes, “You’re wearing blue jeans, biker boots, and way too many layers.”</p><p>   Dean smiled brightly and held up a finger, “Correction: I said I’ve done dangerous situations before, and I’m even good at it too,” then followed with a mock serious frown, “but you won’t catch me dead in shorts.”</p><p>   Cas rolled his eyes before saying, “Fine, but if we have to go back tomorrow, you are going to get the right clothing.”</p><p>   “Yes, sir,” Dean states suggestively and with a wink.</p><p>   Cas responded with shaking his head, but Dean did not miss the slight, upturn of his lips as he walked past Dean. Cas moved towards the door, backpack already thrown over his shoulder. “Come on, we have a lot of ground to cover this morning,”</p><p>   “So bossy,” Dean called after him, and just knew that earned him another eye roll. With a shake of his head, Dean followed behind him.</p><p>   When they made it to the ranger station to sign-in for their hike, they learned that the security footage showed that Jo never made it back to the parking lot. Which confirmed Dean’s fears that something was out there, and it was holding Cas’s sister prisoner. Dean could only hope they make it in time.</p>
<hr/><p>     Jo let out a groan as she awoke to her head pounding. Her eyes blinked and blinked some more until they finally fluttered opened. Everything was fuzzy. She squeezed her eyes shut, but when she opened them again, the blurriness was still there. She bent her right arm in an attempt to grasp her head, but flinched when the action met a sharp pain. Inspecting her arm revealed an IV attached to her, drawing blood from her. Her eyes followed the blood-filled IV line until they finally located the drip bag. It was nearly full to max with her blood. Was she in a hospital? Jo went to sit up, but the second her upper body lifted from the mattress, a dizzy spell came over her. She dropped back down to the bed with another pained moan. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths as the dizzy spell slowly faded away. Her whole body flinched when she was startled by a loud clanging to her right. She looked to her right and was surprised to see a nightstand that she did not noticed before. There was a tray with a bowl of soup and a glass of water next to her. She frowned at it, and wondered how it got placed there without her noticing.</p><p>     Jo tried to search the room again but her head felt so heavy and sluggish. It was hard to focus or process anything she was seeing. Her stomach decided to growl its hunger at her. She lifted a shaky hand towards the bowl, and winced at the burn in her biceps. Just lifting her arm gave the same amount of strain on her muscles as an hour of intense workout at the gym lifting weights would. She tried picking up the bowl, but the shakiness in her hands and the strain in her muscles made her drop it. Thankfully, she hadn’t picked it up high enough for it to completely topple over. Only a small amount of soup sloshed out of the bowl, landing on her wrist. Her wrist jerked in an automatic flinch, expecting a scalding from the soup, but was relieved when her senses only felt cold soup. She tried to reach for the bowl again, but whimpered when the burn in her muscles only intensified.</p><p>    Suddenly, something shoved under back and she was being lifted and held at an angle. Before she can blink up at whoever was holding her up, the bowl of soup was being brought closer to her face. She didn’t even have time to protest before it was rested on her lower lip and tipped forward. Her reaction was instant. Sputtering and coughing up the soup that was pouring into her mouth, some of it even dribbling down her neck towards her chest. Quickly realizing that this soup was going down her throat, whether it had to be forced or not, she decided to let herself swallow the soup. When it was finally pulled away from her mouth, presumably empty, she began to gasp for her breath. Before she could complain about the rough treatment by this Nurse Ratched, the glass of water was being tipped into her mouth. The surprise made her sputter some more, and there was now water flowing down her neck to join the soup stains on her shirt. When the glass was finally pulled away from her, the weight that was holding her up was suddenly gone, and she dropped down to the firm mattress with a cry of pain. The loud sound of a metal-on-metal <em>clang</em> exploded in her sensitive ears, and she whimpered when the throbbing in her head intensified. She let her head fall to the side to look in the direction that the sound came from. There were bars. Jo blinked her eyes to try and focus her sight, which was now becoming more and more fuzzier by the second. When she opened her eyes again her breath constricted as her heart beat sped up. The bars were still there, crisscrossed like a prison. Her eyes, cased in heavy lids that were now fighting to stay open, travelled down the row of bars to find a door that must have had its handle on the other side. <em>Was </em>she in a prison?</p><p>    “Hey,” her hoarse voice croaked, but she pressed on, “Hey!”</p><p>    “Where am I,” she called out again when there was no answer.</p><p>    “Who are you,” her throat burned in protest.</p><p>    “You can’t keep me in here!”</p><p>    She was ignored once again. She wanted to sit up again, but her muscles were completely dead again. Even more than they were a few minutes ago. Her eye lids kept fluttering shut. Her breath constricted some more, this time in increasing gasps until she felt herself in the beginning stages of a panic attack. A sob escaped her as tears began to flow down her face. Her hearing must have still been heightened because she could hear the sound of steps approaching the cell. She let her head fall back down to the side so she can see who was standing there. There was a shadow cast over them, but despite her fuzzy vision, she could see the outline of a tall and broad-shouldered body. The person was watching her. As if she was the source of some sick type of entertainment. Despite her increasingly hard battle to stay conscious and alert, she felt rage bubble up in her.</p><p>    “LET ME OUT OF HERE YOU SICK FREAK,” She screamed this time, not caring that her throat muscles burned in protest.</p><p>    The reaction was immediate. A hand shot forward, banging against the metal, sending the whole cage into a vibration. The form stepped up into the light, their face finally being revealed to Jo. She gasped in horror at what she saw. Before her was a face with masculine features and a scruffy bear. But what filled her with horror were the massive fangs that were protruding from this person’s mouth. The person’s lips peeled back, baring even more of those sharp fangs, before letting out a monstrous growl. Jo let out a loud scream, overpowering the growl, before her consciousness finally succumb to whatever it was battling, and she mercifully blacked out once again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. What Goes Bump in the Night?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>When Anael "Jo" Novak goes missing during a hike in the mountains with her boyfriend, worried brother, Castiel, goes in search of her. Castiel is surprised to receive the help of FBI agents, Dean and Sam. But what are they hiding?</p><p>Bottom Cas Big Bang<br/>Artist: Kuwlshadow<br/>Beta Reader: Elodia</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, nor do I own their characters. I am not making a profit from this fanfiction work. </p><p>Hi everyone! Here is my story for the 2019 Bottom Cas Big Bang! The beautiful art work is from the amazing Kuwlshadow (AO3 Username). Please go send her some love! And my beta reader is awesome Elodia (AO3 Username)! Thank you both so much for the hard work you put into helping make this work happen! I am so excited to share this story, and it will be the start of a series I will call: Lessons in Hunting. Enjoy!<br/>https://kuwlshadow.tumblr.com/post/616123890761138176/title-lesson-number-1-monsters-are-real-author<br/>https://imgur.com/I7v0ZXW</p><p>PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO TAG WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div><br/><p>     Dean let out a curse as he swiped at the now dripping sweat from his forehead. He couldn’t believe how hot he was feeling, despite the actual cool temperatures of the day. There was a rumble of laughter from his right, and Dean would have scowled at the offending sound if it weren’t for the shiver of pleasure that had sent down his body.</p><p>     “I told you, you would get too hot hiking up this mountain with all those layers on,” Cas teased. This time Dean did scowl because Cas was absolutely right. He had told Dean just that. He even tried to convince Dean to buy a whole new wardrobe, and ditch the layers and blue jeans he was wearing now.</p><p>    <em>“I won’t even say anything about the biker boots, as long as you change the other clothes. Trust me, you’ll thank me for it later,” </em>Cas had said back when they were at the ranger station signing in for their all day hike. But did Dean listen? Oh, no. No, he decided to revert back to a 15-year-old boy with an ego bigger than he was tall and said he’d rather climb <em>ten </em>mountains in the clothes he was wearing now, rather than change. Because he was an idiot. Dean will also admit that he wanted to show off for those pretty blue eyes to see if he could get a smile. He got a smile alright, but Dean had an odd sense he was being laughed at. Dean looked over at his hiking partner to see those blue eyes twinkling, and not from the sun. Yep, that was the look Cas was giving him back at the ranger station. Dean was definitely being laughed at. At the scowl that was being directed at him, Cas threw up his hands in surrender, “Hey, don’t look at me like that. I did warn you.”</p><p>    “Yeah, yeah,” Dean stated with a roll of his eyes, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at his own expense. He really did do this to himself. He looked over to his hiking partner who had decided to drop their teasing, and focused back on the compass and map in his hands. Before the hiking search began a couple of hours earlier, Dean had happily handed over the map and compass to Cas for him to manage. Having the experienced hiker manage those tasks made things easier for Dean, both by having Cas get them to their destination quicker and by keeping the worried brother busy with a task and distracted from Dean’s current job, which was looking for signs of a vampire lair.</p><p>    Dean didn’t want to have to explain that the reason he kept looking up into the trees and towards any snap of twigs was to look for a vampire lair where his sister was likely being held as a feeding source. He can’t imagine that conversation would go over very well. Not to mention Dean’s major lie from earlier where he ensured that there was indeed a search party being planned and gathered to assist with the search for his sister. Having a search party out here would just put more innocent people in danger of something they wouldn’t understand, but Dean did not have any believable excuse for Cas, so he agreed and stepped aside to look like he was making a phone call to do just that. Instead, he was talking to a very confused Sam, who then lectured once he caught on to what Dean was doing and reminded Dean that Cas had no idea what he was doing and could very much get them killed. Dean had chosen that moment to end his fake phone call about a search party, effectively ending Sam’s rant. Despite Cas’s lack of experience hunting the supernatural, Dean didn’t regret his decision in working with Cas to find his sister. Dean sent a curious look over at the other man. Cas really did seem to know what he was doing. Cas chose this time to look over at Dean, and he only had time to flush at being caught staring.</p><p>    “What,” Cas asked.</p><p>    “It’s nothing,” Dean quickly answered.</p><p>    “No. What is it,” Cas demanded this time.</p><p>    “I was just thinking, even with the contempt you mentioned your sister having for hiking and camping, you both seem to know a lot about hiking and camping,” Dean answered. He looked over and Cas was still watching him, not in anger or judgment, just as if he was waiting for Dean to explain more. Dean gave a shy shrug before he answered, “I just think there’s a story there, is all.” There was only silence for a moment, and when Dean looked up it was to see Cas with a far-away look in his eyes. He looked…vulnerable.</p><p>     “Hey, man,” Dean started, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business.”</p><p>     “No, no, it’s okay,” Cas quickly stated, “I was just thinking about Jo, and how terrified she must be to be stuck in place like this of all places.” Cas nibbled on his bottom lip as he look down at his boots. Dean let him have his silence, not wanting to push for more information or disturb wherever his thoughts were taking them. Finally, Cas cleared his throat before beginning.</p><p>     “When Jo and I were younger, she was ten and I was twelve, our father took us into the mountains for a week of hiking and camping. It was completely random, out of the blue. Just one day, our dad decided to pack up the car and take us to the mountains. It was just us three because our mother had left my dad, and Jo and me, not long after Jo was born. She had met some rich guy, and did not want to be broke with our father, or the responsibilities of being a mother to Jo and me. Anyways, Jo was not as thrilled because even before then hiking and camping wasn’t really her thing, but she would go along with it for our Dad and me. I was really excited because at the time I was really starting to get into history, and was convinced I would find some major historical item. But mainly we were just excited that our Dad wanted to spend time with us. For the past few months he had been completely ignoring us except to make sure we ate something and were clean.</p><p>     “Anyway, we get to the mountains, and started our week long hike. To be honest, we weren’t even having fun before it all went bad. Dad was still ignoring us, lost in his head, and when we tried to talk to him, he would snap at us to be quiet. We were into the third day of our hike when he suddenly wanted to set up camp in the middle of the day. Jo and I wanted to keep going, but he snapped at us again when we tried arguing. So we set up camp, and Dad was acting weird. He kept pacing around, and looking all around our camp as if he was waiting for someone to show up. Of course, no one did, and Jo and I had given up trying to talk to him. Then, after we ate our dinner later on that day, he was demanding that we go to bed for the night. It was only 6:00pm, and at that time of the year, still day light out. I tried arguing because at this point Jo was in tears because by then she was realizing her week of fun that was promised wasn’t going to happen. I was going to take her exploring, just to get her away from Dad for a while.</p><p>     “Dad wouldn’t hear it, though. He told me to ‘shut the hell up and get in the damn tent you useless brat,” at that point Dean had let out a horrified gasp. Sam’s and Dean’s own father would definitely not win any Dad-of-the-Year awards, but he never talked to them like that. Cas gave Dean a dry smile to say, “Yeah, real charmer wasn’t he? Anyway, we went to the tent and I tried to make up for Jo’s disappointment by naming all of the different type of animals that lived in the mountains. At the time she had a fondness for wildlife. We had to whisper because we could still hear our Dad pacing around and cursing outside. Eventually Jo fell asleep, and I made myself be still until I finally fell asleep after.</p><p>     “Our Dad was gone by the time we woke up. We looked everywhere, but he was just gone. There was no note or supplies left behind by him, and he had also packed up his tent and supplies and took those with him. At the time I naively thought he was injured somewhere or something happened to him, but it didn’t take me long to realize there would have been signs of a struggle and all of his stuff would have still been at the camp. And I am a light sleeper, so I would have woke up. So our Dad just abandon his two kids, only ten and twelve years old, to fend for themselves. With hardly any supplies because our Dad had carried the bigger backpack with most of the food and water, no map, and no survival skills. He had left us for dead,” Cas finally finished.</p><p>     Dean was quiet for several moments while he tried to process that. Finally he just shook his head before saying, “Damn, Cas. I am so sorry that happened. You and Jo must have been terrified. What happened after that? How did you two get out of there?”</p><p>     “I actually don’t know,” Cas stated with a shrug, “neither me or Jo have any memories of what happened. All I can remember is yelling for Jo to wake up and start packing, and the next thing I remember is Jo and I huddled under some rocks, clothes torn, and covered in cuts. Some rangers found us. Turns out they had been looking for us. Our Dad had never signed us in or out for the hiking trip at the mountain’s ranger station, but security cameras picked up a man and two kids entering but not leaving the mountain’s entrance,” Cas gave Dean a stubborn look as he said, “This is how I know that Jo would have never skimped on signing out at the mountain’s station. She knows how important it is, and we would have likely been found sooner had our Dad did at least that.” Cas’s tense shoulders relaxed when he received an understanding nod from Dean.</p><p>     “Jo has even less memories of it than me,” Cas continued, “A therapist later explained that it is a defense mechanism. Our brain can block out traumatic events from our memories. It’s common in children. All I know is that Jo and I were out there alone for five days before we were finally found.”</p><p>     “What happened with your Dad,” Dean asked.</p><p>     Cas gave a careless shrug before answering, “He was never found. Our story was printed in newspapers and aired in the news everywhere, but he never once came looking for us. I found out later that we were evicted from our home and were officially homeless when our Dad decided to take us to the mountains. But I don’t know why he took us there. Even if it was to abandon us, he could have easily dropped us off at a hospital or shelter. Why he would do what he did, I can’t even begin to figure out. He’s wanted for Child Endangerment and Child Abuse, but I doubt anyone is looking for him now.”</p><p>     A small part of Dean wanted to believe that there was some sort of supernatural explanation for this, but he didn’t get this far in life by being naïve. Sometimes the monsters aren’t the vampires or the werewolves or the wendigos. Sometimes the monsters are the humans.</p><p>     “I’m so sorry you and Jo are having to go through this again, Cas. I promise you, I will not leave until we find Jo,” Dean stated with earnest.</p><p>     Cas responded with a gentle smile, and reaching out to grasp Dean’s shoulder, “Thank you, Dean. I truly am grateful for what you are doing.”</p><p>     Dean felt another flush cross his freckled cheeks, so he quickly duck his eyes back down to his boots, trying to will away the blush. They continued on in silence for a little bit before the silence was eating away at Dean, and he couldn’t stand it anymore.</p><p>     “Will you tell me more about yourself,” Dean asked, and inwardly cursed when to even his own ears he sounded like a teenager with a crush, “What do you do? You mentioned history earlier. Are you a historian?”</p><p>     That earned Dean a friendly smile before Cas replied with, “Close. I am an archeologist. I specialize in Classical Archeology. I’m a professor at the university in town, and I also lead excavations at archeological sites.”</p><p>      “That’s ancient cities and civilizations, right,” Dean asked.</p><p>      Cas gave Dean a surprised and happy smile as he said, “Yes, indeed, Dean. Do you have an interest in history?”</p><p>      Dean ducked his head again and gave another shy shrug before vaguely answering, “You could say it’s an interest of mine. In my field of work, pretty much any subject can be useful.”</p><p>      Cas seemed to accept that answer as he gave an understanding nod. They continued their hikes in silence for a few moments until Dean starts noticing that Cas is sending him thoughtful looks here and there when he thinks Dean is not looking. Dean was in the process of considering if he should call Cas out on it or not when the other man finally spoke up.</p><p>      “Dean, that phone call you received last night,” Cas started hesitantly, at Dean’s assuring nod he continued, “I thought it might be about my sister, so I admit I tried to listen through the door.” Dean had to admired how unashamed Cas looked at admitting this. “I overheard you mention vampires,” Cas stated, “What was that about?”</p><p>      “That was my partner, Sam. I stepped into the bathroom because I was not sure if there would be good news or bad news,” Dean partially lied, “and Sam had mentioned vampires because he was looking into cult beliefs as possible motive.”</p><p>      “Motive,” Cas asked with a frown, “Do you mean with the other bodies? I thought those were a rabid animal?”</p><p>      “Well, Sam and I still need to look into the deaths and consider all possibilities just in case things were staged.”</p><p>      “I see,” Cas had answered, and had even nodded in what appeared to be understanding. However, Dean was having a sneaking suspicion that Cas was not entirely buying what he was being told. Dean decided it was time to distract before any more questions are asked.</p><p>      “What do you think about all of the mythologies and folklores? Any interest,” Dean asked.</p><p>      There was a huff before Cas stated, “I should hope so. It is my area of expertise.” At Dean’s confused frown, Cas clarified, “Within my Classical Archeology field, my area of expertise is the Mythologies and Folklores of the ancient world.”</p><p>      “What do you do with that,” Dean asked with genuine curiosity.</p><p>      “I look into the mythologies and folklores within the ancient culture. A lot of the time knowing mythology can bring understanding in what a groups beliefs, values, and traditions were. Mythologies helped shape cultures and gave meaning behind ancient text and art,” Cas answered.</p><p>      “That sounds really cool. Will you tell me about some of the myths and folklores you have learned from?”</p><p>      “Sure,” Cas easily replied, and Dean gave himself a pat on the shoulder at keeping Cas distracted from further conversations about missing individuals. Dean was also equally proud of himself for setting up a chance to hear more of that deep, gravelly tone of Cas.</p>
<hr/><p>     Cas kept his thoughts to himself, but he wasn’t fooled by what Dean told him about cult motives and double checking the deaths were not animal attacks. Dean was hiding something, and Cas had a feeling it had something to do with Jo, or where she may be at. It was clear, though, that Dean was not going to give him any real answers. The past hour or so, Cas has been humoring Dean with the different myths and folklores that he has come across in his field work, but he was starting to lose his patience. He needed to find Jo, <em>alive</em>, and he felt like he was searching blind while Dean was keeping all the answers to himself. He was starting to think he would be better off searching for Jo by himself despite his promise to Dean to work together. He decided to wait until they located the clearing where Jo and the assbutt had the argument. He’ll decided where to go from there. Cas continued to humor Dean with the different stories from his career, and another hour and a half later, the clearing was found. Cas double checked the coordinates with his compass, and confirmed they were at the right place.</p><p>     “This is it,” Cas stated aloud for Dean.</p><p>     Dean started to say something in response, but then the sound of his satellite phone ringing interrupted the silence. Cas nodded when Dean held up a finger before stepping away for privacy. Cas forced himself to casually start circling the clearing in pretense of looking for something. When he was finally as close as he could be without alerting Dean, he stopped and crouched down as if he was looking at something on the ground. Unfortunately, he could only hear bits and pieces of what Dean was saying because of the distance that Cas had to keep.</p><p>     “…No, not found yet…”</p><p>     “…Definitely think vampires…”</p><p>     “…Relax…”</p><p>     “…Swoop in…”</p><p>     “…Make the kill…”</p><p>     “…No one will ever know…”</p><p>     At that last sentence, dread began to fill him as he realized he made a huge mistake in trusting this man. From the corner of his eye he sees Dean step deeper into the woods, and out of the clearing with talks of old maps and libraries. Cas used that chance to rush to Dean’s backpack that the other man had left on the ground while he made his phone call. Cas yanked the zipper opened to a sight that filled Cas with even more disturbed horror. In the backpack there was not one, but <em>two</em>, machetes. There was salt, lighter fluid, and a lighter. There was also a hunting knife, silver bullets, an iron crow bar, and a smaller knife with strange carvings on it that looked mildly familiar. Whatever was in the full flask did not smell like any kind of alcoholic beverage he knew of, and Cas wasn’t about to try the odorless liquid to figure out what it was. A twig snapped behind him.</p><p>     “What are you doing,” Dean’s rough voice snapped. In an instant, Cas had the hilt of one of the machetes in his hand, and he was whirling around and pointing it at Dean. The man immediately stopped his approached and held his hands up, “Woah. Just calm down. What do you think you are doing, man?”</p><p>     “Where is she,” Cas demanded instead.</p><p>     “Excuse me?”</p><p>     “WHERE IS MY SISTER,” Cas screamed.</p><p>     “Listen, man, you need to calm down. I don’t know where she is. I’ve been helping you look for her, remember,” Dean stated, his voice still attempting a soothing tone.</p><p>     “No you haven’t,” Cas growled, “this whole thing has been a trap. Were you going to kill me after you took me to my sister? Is she even still alive? Tell me what you’ve done with her!”</p><p>     “Listen to me, Cas, you are not making any sense,” Dean was interrupted before he could finish.</p><p>     “I heard you! I heard you say something about vampires again, and killings, and no one ever finding out. Your backpack is filled with weapons. What kind of deluded psychopath are you?!”</p><p>     “You have it all wrong, Cas, just let me…”</p><p>     “NO! Tell me where my sister is,” Cas yelled over Dean once again.</p><p>     “Use your head, Cas. My brother and I arrived the same time as you. There is no way we could have taken your sister,” Dean tried to explain.</p><p>     “Brother?! You had FBI badges, you’re supposed to be agents! Just who the hell are you?!,” Cas yelled.</p><p>     Dean winced at that before saying, “Okay, yes, I did lie about that. My brother, Sam, and I are not really FBI agents. And yes, I have not been completely honest about anything, but I <em>can </em>explain. I promise I will, just put the weapon down.” Cas remained silent as he stared warily at Dean, trying to ascertain if the other man was lying. At Cas’s hesitation, Dean spoke up again, “Cas, buddy, if I really wanted to do you harm, I have had multiple chances to do so, but I haven’t. I swear to you that all I want is to help you find your sister alive and well, so you can both return to your normal lives.”</p><p>     Cas hesitated for a moment before finally lowering the arm that held the machete, but he didn’t let go of it.</p><p>     “Start talking,” was all he said.</p>
<hr/><p>     Dean held in a frustrated sigh as he watch Cas keep the machete tightly in his hand, but he guessed he shouldn’t expect anything less than that. He realized how this all must look to the other man.</p><p>     “Alright,” Dean started, “just so you know, I realize how it all must sound, but <em>please </em>have an open mind for what I’m about to tell you,” he begged. He was awarded with a suspicious glare for his troubles, but finally received a short and jerky nod from Cas. He took that as a sign to go on.</p><p>     “Well here it goes,” Dean cleared his throat, feeling nervous, “monsters are real,” he rushed out. When Cas only blinked in confusion and shock, Dean hurried to explain more.</p><p>     “Everything you have ever heard of going bump in the night, is real. Werewolves, ghouls, vampires, demons…they’re all real. My brother and I are hunters. We hunt down and kill the supernatural monsters to keep people safe. Saving people, hunting things. It’s kind of a family business,” Dean half joked and tried a half smile. When all he got back was silence and a blank look, he dropped the smile and cleared his throat, “Sam found a vampire fang in the last body that was found before your sister’s disappearance. We believe there is a vampire, maybe two, holding up here in the mountains. We think the reason your sister’s body hasn’t turned up is because she is being held as a feeding source during the cold months when hikers are not as frequent.”</p><p>     There was a long stretch of silence, where Cas continued to look confused and shocked. Finally Dean stated, “Cas? Say something, please.”</p><p>     “Y-you,” Cas stuttered but his confused frown only deepened before saying, “you really are delusional.”</p><p>     At those words, Dean’s shoulders deflated as he was filled with feelings of disappointment and, strangely enough, hurt. “Oh, Cas,” Dean stated, “I thought you would be more open-minded.”</p><p>     "Excuse me?”</p><p>      “Your work is in mythologies and folklore! You of all people should understand!”</p><p>      Cas let out some unintelligible stutters before finally saying, “Understand? There is nothing to understand, Dean! My work in myths and folklore is to help understand ancient cultures and traditions, but I don’t <em>believe </em>in them. They’re just stories! They’re not <em>real</em>.”</p><p>      “Where do you think they came from? They are based off truth! Are you really so naïve to believe that out of all of the myths and folklores you have learned about, not a single ounce of it is real,” Dean snapped.</p><p>      Cas’s face paled as he ran a frustrated hand through his already wild hair, “I…That’s just…I don’t.” Cas never finished a coherent sentence, and Dean was feeling guilty for springing all of this on him like that.</p><p>      “Look, Cas,” Dean started, this time more gently, “even if you can’t believe any of that, you can believe that I want to help, right? <em>Believe me</em>, there is nothing that I want more than to help you find your sister, so that I can get you both back to your safe, every day, normal lives. You can believe that, right,” Dean finished that last part more softly, with a strange sense of being vulnerable. Somehow, he knew it would crush him if he lost all trust from Cas. There was silence, for almost too long of a period, where Cas gave him a hard stare. Finally Cas gave a slow nod and gently lowered the machete back into Dean’s bag.</p><p>      “I…I don’t know what to think about…that,” Cas cleared his throat, “but I believe you when you say you want to help me find Jo.”</p><p>      “That’s great,” Dean stated with a big smile, “I can work with that.” There was more silence before Cas gave a nod and a hesitant smile. Dean had a feeling things will be awkward, likely because Cas is probably thinking that Dean is delusional and in need of help, but he wasn’t wielding any weapons at him or trying to punch him. He decided to take that as a win for now, and deal with the other stuff later. Though, he might not have to because Dean had a feeling that there would be no avoiding the <em>supernatural-is-real</em> realization once Jo was found. But that did not mean there wasn’t a chance to find Jo and get them both to safety to live their apple-pie lives because Dean meant it when he said he wanted that for them, and he will do everything in his power to make that happen.</p><p>      “So,” Dean stated with a clap of his hands, “which direction do you think Jo would have went after the fight?”</p><p>      Cas was silent as he stared at the surroundings of the clearing and occasionally looking at the map in his hands. He finally pointed in the direction that Dean had just had his phone call with Sam.</p><p>      “If she was mad, she would have wanted to get back to the ranger station to find a way home. Even without a map, which I suspect she did not have, logic would have told her to head downhill,” Cas explained.</p><p>      Dean gave a nod and stated, “Alright then, that’s the way we’ll go.”</p><p>      The two men started in that direction. Nothing was said between the two. Dean had looked over occasionally, considering what he could say to get the man talking to him again, but every time he did Cas either had his nose buried in the map or focused on their surroundings. Dean couldn’t help but wonder if Cas was just being extra careful in his assessment in what direction to go, or if he was just pretending this took up all his attention. Dean hoped it was the former rather than the latter. They had just stepped into another clearing when a bright colored object from the corner of his eye caught his attention. Looking over revealed a large smart phone with a purple protective case.</p><p>      “Hey, Cas, what color was Jo’s cell-phone cover,” Dean asked.</p><p>      “Purple. Why?”</p><p>      Dean pointed to the object that was on the ground right next to a tree. Dean watched as Cas’s face became more alert and excited when he spotted the phone. Cas rushed over, and flipped the phone over to the back. From where Dean was standing he could see there was a sticker of some sort stuck to the back, but couldn’t tell what the sticker was. It must have been the confirmation that Cas needed because his shoulders deflated in what appeared to be relief.</p><p>      “It’s Jo’s phone,” Cas announced, “we’re going in the right direction.” Cas flipped the phone back over and pressed the power button, letting loose a sigh a moment later, “It’s dead of course.” Dean was in the middle of cursing himself for not thinking of bringing one of those portable phone chargers for this very reason when the shrill sound of his satellite phone ringing disturbed the quiet, startling both men. Dean considered stepping a way for privacy once again, but he got a glance of the worried and wary glance that Cas was giving him, and decided he wanted to change that. He wanted to show Cas that he wasn’t delusional or paranoid.</p><p>      “That’s my brother. He is at the public library. I told him to look up any old archives of the park, maps and blueprint designs for any buildings that we might find here. Will it disturb you if I take this here,” Dean asked, gesturing to their location.</p><p>      Cas blinked in surprise, but quickly nodded assurance, “N-no. Please,” gesturing for Dean to answer the phone there.</p><p>      “Hey, Sam, what you got for me,” Dean stated as he answered the phone.</p><p>      “So, get this. The park actually have several old buildings throughout the mountain that you don’t see on the maps that the park hands out now. I suspect they are for utilities and storage. If Novak’s sister is being held anywhere in the mountains, it would be in one of these buildings,” Sam explained, excitement in his voice.</p><p>      “That’s good. We found her cell phone,” Dean updated before sharing the coordinates of their location. There was silence as he overheard the sound of rustling paper as Sam likely reviewed the map. “Yep, there is a small bunker type shed not too far from you. I have the blueprints here. It’s not very big, probably used to be used for storage. It could fit two people in there though, three would be a tight squeeze.”</p><p>      “That’s great, Sam,” he gestured toward the map that Cas was holding, “what are the coordinates?” Cas immediately came closer with the map, and Dean scan the map with his finger as he listened to Sam ramble out the coordinates. He tapped the map once his finger found the location, and Cas quickly circled the spot with a marker.</p><p>      “Thanks, Sam. Cas and I will start heading that way. Keep your phone on you,” Dean stated and then hung up before Sam could argue. “Alright,” Dean stated aloud, “we got our lead.” Thankfully, the bunker really wasn’t that far away from them and it was only ten minutes before they spotted the bunker.</p><p>      “Oh, thank goodness,” Cas stated aloud in relief as soon as the bunker was within their sight. Cas’s steps started to speed up, and Dean quickly grabbed his arm to prevent the full out run that Cas was getting ready to do. That earned him an annoyed glare for his troubles. “What do you think you are doing,” Cas snapped, “we need to see if Jo is in there.”</p><p>      “And we will,” Dean quickly assured in a quiet voice, “but dangerous situations are my thing remember? This is where my help comes in, and I promise you it would do none of us any good if we charge in there without knowing what is on the other side. You have to trust me on that.”</p><p>      There was a short moment where all Cas did was continue to glare at him, but must have agreed because he gave a quick, sharp nod. “Then what do you suggest we do,” Cas whispered, “she could be injured in there. I don’t want her in there any longer then she has to be.”</p><p>      “I agree,” Dean was quick to whisper back. He gave another quick glance at the bunker and confirmed there was a small window low on the building, almost touching the ground. He may be able to get an eye on Jo and whoever else that may be in there. “Alright,” Dean whispered as he placed his backpack on the ground to unzip the top, “I’m going to go see if I can get a look inside. I’ll do a wide circle until I’m coming along the back and out of sight. I’ll make my way back as soon as I get a good look in.” At Cas’s nod, Dean quickly pulled out his machete, and immediately Cas flinched and was back to that wary stare as he looked down at the machete in Dean’s hands. Dean blinked and frowned at Cas, then back down at his machete. Then the realization hit him.</p><p>      “Oh! No, don’t worry. This is just for protection,” Dean quickly assured, his smile friendly. Then it occurred to him that machetes are not what every day, average Joe’s use for protection.</p><p>      “Right…of course,” Cas stated, still giving him a wary look. Dean decided to take it as a win, though. At least he wasn’t calling Dean delusional again. Baby steps. Baby steps were good. Before any more questions could be asked, Dean quickly took off. Ten minutes later he was slowly and quietly scooching along the outer wall of the bunker towards the small window at the bottom. Once he was finally where he wanted to be, he slowly lowered himself to the ground. He was at just the right angle to see a woman passed out on a dirty cot inside a large storage cage. Next to the cot was a stand holding a bag, nearly full to bursting with blood. The IV drip was connected to her arm. Dean recognized her from Cas’s picture. This is Jo.</p><p>      Suddenly, a tall man stepped into view and stepped into the storage cage, immediately setting to work to stopping the blood withdraw. While the man’s back was turn, Dean quickly scanned the rest of the small room and confirmed there were no other vampires in the bunker. Dean looked back to see the vampire removing the blood bag from the metal stand. Dean backed out of view of the window just as the vampire was turning around. Dean counted to ten before glancing back through the window. The storage cage door was shut and locked once again, so Dean had to assume the vampire was not going to immediately hook another bag to her. He was grateful for that because while he could she was breathing, she was dangerously pale. They needed to get her out of there, and fast. With that thought, Dean made his way back to Cas.</p><p>      “She’s in there,” Dean stated as greeting as soon as he was back next to Cas, “he’s been drawing blood from her. She’s looking pale, but breathing.” Cas let out a sigh of relief, and Dean had to once again grab his arm to prevent him from taking off in that direction. The look he got from the other man told Dean that he was about to be punched. So, he talked fast.</p><p>      “It’s better that we wait and see if he leaves soon before we go in,” Dean quickly explained.</p><p>      “What if he doesn’t leave soon,” Cas whispered back sharply.</p><p>      “Then we’ll go in, but her chances of not being harm is better if we wait until he leaves so that I can catch him unaware. Right now he needs her, so he won’t harm her; but if he thinks he can use her against us if we go charging in, he will not hesitate to do so.”</p><p>      Cas did not say anything, just closed his eyes as he rubbed at them in frustration. Dean inwardly winced. Poor guy was barely holding it together. After a short pause, Cas removed his fingers and his eyes were a steel determination when he opened them again. “How long do we wait,” Cas asked softly. Dean looked up at the sky. The sun would be setting soon. Feeding source or not, the vampire will want to come out from the bunker once the sun sets. They weren’t made to be kept cooped up in small spaces.</p><p>      “Ten minutes. The sun will be setting soon, so chances are he will be heading out. Shouldn’t be longer than ten minutes, but anything more than that, we’ll head in,” Dean offered. Cas was silent as he looked back to the bunker for a few seconds, biting his lip in thought. Finally, Dean was graced with those steel blue eyes once again, and he was relieved when he got a nod in return.</p><p>     “Alright. It’s a plan.”</p>
<hr/><p>     Only three minutes had passed, and Cas was already regretting his decision to go with this plan. He kept checking his watch, but time seemed to move slower each time. Another two minutes, and the sun finally set. Cas focused on the door to the bunker, adrenaline already rushing through him, but then nothing happen. Cas scowled as he looked back down at his watch to see it had only been six minutes all together. Cas’s scowl deepened and he was about ready to head to the bunker now, plan or no plan, but then there was a flash of light as the door to the bunker was finally opened. A tall man stepped out, and started making his way into the wooded area in a direction not far from his and Dean’s hiding spot</p><p>
  <span>     “Alright,” Dean whispered, “I’m going to go after him. You run in and get Jo.” Cas nodded immediately, but flinched when he felt something nudge his hand. He looked down to see Dean trying to hand him his other machete. Cas immediately moved his hand away, shaking his head. Dean scowled before grabbing Cas’s hand in a strong grip, and forcing it to wrap around the handle of the machete, his grip holding Cas’s hand in place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You need this with you. It’s not optional. It’s for protection. I hope you don’t have to use it, but you need it just in case,” Dean stated firmly, and did not let go of Cas’s hand until Cas finally nodded his head. Slowly, Dean removed his hand. “Swing. Don’t stab. Aim for the neck.” Cas paled and immediately starting shaking his head again, ready to drop the machete, but then Dean wrapped both hands around the handle and Cas’s own hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Listen to me, Cas. It’s the only way. Promise me that you’ll do that if you need to,” Dean stated, giving Cas a stern look. When Cas did not immediately respond, the grip on his hand tightened before Dean demanded once again, “Promise me, Cas.” Cas swallowed as he looked into those beautiful green eyes, desperately trying to find any sign that this man was not well and was having delusions, but all he saw were earnest and pleading eyes. Finally, Cas gave a nod, not trusting himself to say anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Repeat back to me what you need to do,” Dean demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Swing. Don’t stab. Aim for the neck,” Cas repeated breathless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Relief shown in those green eyes before they looked away from Cas to glance back at the man that left the bunker. He was at the edge of the clearing, and was walking into the wooded area. Dean grasped his own machete in his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Wait 30 seconds after I leave, then run to the bunker. Be safe,” and then Dean was gone before Cas could say anything in return. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Cas immediately glanced back down at his watch, counting down the seconds as his heart pounded in his chest. As soon as the 30 second mark hit, Cas was off running faster than he ever had before. He thought he heard sounds of a scuffle behind him, but he refused to turn around, refused to take his eyes off the door into the bunker. It felt like the longest run of his life, but realistically only a few seconds passed before he was bursting into the bunker. He stopped himself just in time before his momentum tripped him down the flight of stairs that lead down to bunker.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Jo,” Cas called out in a whisper, but there was no response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Cas took a calming breath before forcing himself to descend down the stairs. He was almost at the bottom when he saw the storage cage taking up half of the room, and his sister’s form laying on a cot inside. Cas called out his sister name, this time louder, as he rushed down the remaining steps. The second he reached the cage door, he immediately tried to open the door and let loose a curse when he was met with resistance. He frantically searched around, and was relieved to see a key left sitting on a small two person table. He lunged for the key, and had the door unlocked and swinging open in no time. He was at his sister’s side in an instant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Jo,” he whispered urgently, brushing her hair that had fallen down away from her face. There was no response so he gave a gentle shake, “Jo! Come on, sweetheart, wake up.” There were a few more silent and agonizing seconds before his sister let out a pained groan before finally opening her eyes. Relieved laughter left Cas as he immediately pulled his sister into his arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Oh thank, God. I was so worried,” Cas whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “C-Cas…,” was all Jo could say before she let out a whimper of pain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Shh…shh,” Cas quickly soothed, “I’m going to get you out of here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Cas finally took the time to look Jo over, and frowned when he saw the bastards had left the IV line in her arm, even though no blood was currently being drawn out. He hoped that Jo did not develop an infection in that spot. He gently took hold of the tape holding the IV in place, and started to slowly pull it away. Jo immediately began to whimper in pain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Shh…I know it hurts, but we need to take this out so we can get out of here,” Cas continued to talk to his sister, even though he had a feeling she wasn’t really processing anything…except for the pain. Cas kept going as gently as he could, and breathed a sigh of relief when the tape finally pulled completely away from the sensitive area. Just as gently, he slipped the IV needle out of her needle. He look desperately around, and was relieved to see a first aid box tucked away on a shelf. He grabbed for it, and did not waste time in cleaning the puncture area with an alcohol swab, doing his best to comfort his sister as she whimpered in pain. As soon as that was done, he was lathering on disinfectant cream, placing down some gauze, and wrapping her arm up with bandage. By then his sister had stopped whimpering, and was just watching him through hazy eyes. She was so pale. Cas’s heart clenched at the sight.</span>
</p><p>     <span>“Alright,” Cas finally stated, “lets sit you up.” He gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders to gently prop her up. “Do you think you can stand,” he asked quietly. It took her a long time to respond, but she finally gave a slow nod. He got to work helping her to stand. She had just been able to stand on shaky legs when a feminine voice interrupted them, “And just where do you think you two are going?” Cas whipped his head around to see…Sue, the park ranger?</span></p><p>
  <span>     “Sue,” Cas exclaimed in shock and confusion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Sue gave a seductive smile and she slowly started to approach, “Mmm…I bet you send all the girls’ like me hearts aflutter when you say their name.” Cas blinked in confusion, trying to think of what to say or what to do, but then Jo suddenly became dead weight in his hands. He looked back to her to see her falling back to the bed, passed out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Jo,” Cas exclaimed. He reached out to catch her, but then a vice-like grip grasped his arm and he was suddenly being thrown across the room. He let out a cry of pain when his back hit the concrete wall. He was pinned in place before he had a chance to fall to the ground. He looked down to see only Sue’s thin arm holding him in place. He grasped her arm, trying to push her away, but you might as well have placed a 1000 pound weight on his chest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Well, I guess I should say human girls’ hearts aflutter,” Sue continued on, “Me on the other hand? I’m nothing like them.” With her free hand, she grasped one of Cas’s hands and placed it over her heart…or where it should be. Cas frowned when he did not feel any pumps or beats. There was nothing. With a dreaded feeling he look back up at Sue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You see,” Sue stated with a sickeningly sweet voice, “my heart does not flutter, or beat, or pump, or anything really. It just thirsts.” Cas renewed his struggles, trying to push her away, but there was no give. “You should have stayed away, handsome,” Sue continued, this time her voice harsh, “you would have eventually got your sister back. In pieces.” Then Cas watched in horror as her cruel smile disappear as fangs protruded from her gums. Cas could only watch as she opened her mouth wider, like a snake ready to strike. Cas quickly squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the pain. But none came. Instead Cas’s face was showered with something warm and wet before the weight pinning him in place disappeared. Cas slowly opened his eyes as he looked down at his chest, to see his shirt completely covered in blood. His eyes travelled further down to see Sue’s body slumped on the ground, headless. A quick glance to his right showed her head on the ground, two feet from her body.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Cas flinched in surprised, and looked up to see Dean. His shirt was also covered in blood, and a quick looked to see the end of his machete was soaked in blood. Looking at it you would think Dean just dipped half of the blade in a barrel full of red paint. But it wasn’t paint. Cas’s eyes travelled around the room again from his bloody clothes to the body on the floor, as he began to feel panic set in. There was so much blood. He didn’t know when it started, but there was now ringing in his hears, muffling all sound. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Cas,” Dean’s sharp voice startled him, and he look back up at the man. As soon as their eyes met, Dean’s stern face immediately softened, “There you are. Keep your eyes on me, bud, and breath with me.” Dean started taking exaggerated inhales and exhales. Cas copied him until his pounding heart finally calmed down to a steady rhythm, and the nauseous feeling went away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You’re doing great, Cas. I know this is all a lot right now, but I need you to focus for me, okay? Your sister needs your help right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     That got Cas’s attention, and he sprang into action as he rushed to his sister. The next hour went by in a blur, it was hard to remember everything that happened. He remembered Dean calling 911, repeatedly going over a cover story of psychopaths holding Jo hostage that took off, and then Dean finally disappeared with Sue’s body. Cas didn’t have time to regret not getting Dean’s contact information before the ambulance helicopter arrived to airlift Jo to the hospital. The second the helicopter landed, Jo was being rushed to the ER for a blood transfusion and Cas was being ushered to the waiting area. The next hour went by slowly until finally a doctor stepped out in the waiting room, calling out Jo’s name.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     The doctor shared that Jo had lost a lot of blood and had a couple of head injuries. She was given a blood transfusion and cat scans were done. She had a concussion, and was being observed overnight, but would otherwise be okay physically if no issues arise during the overnight watch came up. No other signs of assault. Cas took that vague answer to mean that there were no signs of sexual assault.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Can I see her,” Cas asked when the doctor finally stopped explaining all of the medical stuff.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Of course,” the doctor answered, and then he was being lead into Jo’s room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Walking into the room he was greeted with the sight of his sister curled up on her side, staring out the window. There was no sign that she noticed him entering the room. He took a step further in the room. Still nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Jo,” Cas called out gently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     At the sound of his voice, Jo quickly sat up and the second her sight fell on him, she let out a sob. Cas quickly rushed over, and had his baby sister in his arms the second he sat down on her bed. He gently rocked her and ran a comforting hand through her hair, as she sobbed into his shoulder. He did not know what to say except for repeated assurances that she was safe and that she was with him now. When she sobbed all that she could, the mumbles of “never again” and “can’t go through that again” began, until finally silence. Ten minutes had passed before she finally sat up from Cas’s hold, crossing her legs into a more comfortable position. She kept a hold of his arm though, as if she was afraid to let go. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I kicked a nurse out earlier,” she finally said, staring down at her crossed feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Oh? What happened?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “She kept telling me my injuries were minor and how lucky I was. It made me crazy, and I just started yelling at her to get out,” she stated, eyes still not moving up from her feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I’m sorry that happened. The nurse shouldn’t have said that. There is nothing lucky about what happened to you,” Cas firmly stated. Jo remained silent, but then finally gave a nod. “Do you want me to complain,” Cas asked gently. Jo was quick to shake her head ‘no’, and he was tempted to do it anyways, but stopped himself from doing so. If she changed her mind later, he’ll do so, but he won’t make the decision for her. Enough of that has been done for her already. There was the sound of a knock on the door behind him, causing Jo’s head to shoot up with a wary stare in that direction, her hand now squeezing his own. Cas quickly turned around, and was greeted with the sheepish faces of Sam and Dean…well he don’t think he ever got a real last name. Were Sam and Dean really their first names? For Jo’s sake, though, he kept up the pretense that they were FBI agents.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Oh, Jo, these are the FBI agents that helped me find you,” Cas quickly stated with a friendly and assuring smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Hi, Jo,” Dean spoke up, “I’m Dean, and this is Sam,” gesturing to the tall man behind him. Jo continued to stare at them warily, her grip on Cas’s hand not once letting up, but finally gave a nod in acknowledgment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “If you’re feeling up for it,” Dean stated, “we just have a couple of questions.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Jo looked back at Cas, her eyes uncertain, so he quickly stated, “Only if you are feeling up for it.” Jo tore at her finger nails, a nervous habit of hers, before finally nodding once again. Sam and Dean carefully walked further into the hospital room, sitting in the chairs next to the bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “We just wanted to confirm the number of people we should be looking for. There’s the two that we know of, but did you ever see any more individuals there? Even if they never stayed for very long,” Dean asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Jo shook her head before saying, “I honestly don’t remember anything. I was knocked out most of the time, and the one time I was awake…well…I think they had me drugged.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Why do you think you were drugged,” Sam asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “The doctor says there was nothing in my system, but the one thing I do remember is me having a hallucination of a man with fangs. They must have given me something,” Jo stated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     There was a brief silence as Sam nodded and appeared to be taking notes, and Dean was giving Cas a questioning glance. Inwardly Cas was panicking. He knew it made him a hypocrite, since he was just thinking that he wanted Jo to make her own decisions, but he did not want Jo knowing about the supernatural if he could help it. He had a feeling she would just feel vulnerable and constantly afraid if she did know. With that in mind, he made a quick decision.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I think your right, Jo. There must have been some form of drug. There are many of them that don’t stay in our bodies long. It must have been one of those,” Cas lied, and gave a pointed look to Sam and Dean, who quickly nodded their heads in agreement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Absolutely,” Sam assured.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     After a few more questions, that Cas suspected were more for appearances sake than anything else, Sam and Dean stood up to prepare to leave. Cas and Jo started to thank the both of them, but they were quickly waved off. Dean placed a business card in his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Don’t hesitate to call if you remember anything,” Dean stated professionally, and was following Sam out the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Cas looked down at the card in his hand, flipping it over and almost smiled when he saw the hastily scrawled phone number at the bottom. He looked back up to see Jo giving him a curious look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “What,” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Jo only gave a soft smile and the barest glint of humor in her eyes before shaking her head and quickly changing the topic to how soon she could leave. Once she learned that she had to stay overnight because of the concussion she was demanding that he leave to get some sleep in a real bed. Cas tried to argue, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She even went so far as to threaten to send last year’s Halloween party pictures to all of his colleagues if he didn’t leave. Cas knew she really would do that, and those were not pictures he wanted sent to his colleagues, and inevitably his students. So he left with the promise that he would be back first thing in the morning. Once he was back in his truck, he let himself fall back against his seat, his eyes shut as his body finally relaxed for the first time in days. He finally opened his eyes when he was met with the realization that he would need to find a motel for the night. Unless… Cas dig out the business card and stared down at the cell phone number. Before he could change his mind, Cas quickly dialed the number.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Hey, it’s Cas,” he stated when that deep voice answered on the other end, “Can I see you tonight?”</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>     Dean’s knee bounced up and down in a nervous tick as he stared down at the time on his phone. Cas was due to arrive any minute now, and he would admit he was feeling nervous. He meant it when he planned on finding Jo so that he could get both siblings back to their safe and normal lives, but a part of him wanted Cas to be part of his life too. He wasn’t sure in what way as they’ve only just met, but he felt like there was something there besides the sexual attraction and he was surprised to find he wanted to explore it. He only hoped Cas felt the same, and surely he didn’t still think Dean was delusional now that he just came face-to-face with a vampire? Right? A sharp knock on the door made Dean jump as it interrupted him from his thoughts. He took a deep breath, gave a quick check in the mirror, and then opened the door.</p><p>     Despite the bags under his eyes and his rumpled clothes, Cas was just as delectable as the first time Dean laid eyes on him. His hair stood up, wilder than it was earlier, as if he has constantly ran a hand through or ruffled his hair throughout the day. This time he was not dressed in hiking clothes. Instead he was dressed in a plain, dark blue t-shirt and distressed blue jeans. It was his eyes though that sent shivers of want down Dean’s body. The man had very clear desire in those gorgeous blue eyes, with that look saying that he wanted to devour Dean. Dean’s mind quickly went back to all of the fantasies that went through his head when he first laid eyes on the man, all of which involving Cas sitting on Dean’s dick and riding him to his heart content. Dean had no problem with that happening this night, or any night. He just hoped this one night added to many more nights in the future.</p><p>     “You going to let me in,” came Cas’s amused rumble.</p><p>     Dean jumped, startled that he had been staring this whole time with likely his own sexy look, and had been caught at it judging by the look on Cas’s face. Dean quickly stepped to the side as he opened the door wider. Cas gave another smirk as he slowly stepped past Dean and into the motel room.</p><p>     “Jo made me leave the hospital,” Cas explained, “said I should get some rest. But I wanted to see you.”</p><p>     Dean quickly looked down when he felt a flush rise in is cheeks as he shut the motel door behind him, wanting to hide the blush from the handsome man before him, “I’m glad you’re here too. I was happy when you called.” When Dean looked up, it was to see that the amused smirk from Cas’s face had faded away to be replaced with a gentle smile. Which would have been fine if Cas didn’t also look almost contrite. Dean felt his lips tug down in a confused frown.</p><p>     “Dean,” Cas stated as he moved closer, “I’m sorry for the things I said to you.” When Dean started to quickly shake his head, Cas held up a hand, “No. Please let me apologize. Whether I believed or not, what I said was not kind.”</p><p>     Dean shook his head again, wanting to reassure Cas, “No, really, Cas. I realize how it all sounds, and you had the added stress of being worried about your sister. Trust me, a lot worse has been said and done to me when I give that talk. It’s all okay, Cas.” Dean try to give a gentle and reassuring smile, but Cas only looked more guilty. He took a step forward and grasped one of Dean’s hand.</p><p>     “No, Dean,” Cas stated gently as his thumb caressed the top of Dean’s hand, “it’s not okay. None of it is. Can I have your forgiveness, Dean? Please,” he asked.</p><p>     Dean was quick to nod his head in affirmative, “Yes, of course, Cas. All forgiven.” Cas smiled in return but kept Dean’s hand gently grasped in his own, his thumb still doing a soothing caress.</p><p>     “Can I know your last name,” Cas asked.</p><p>     “Winchester. I’m Dean Winchester,” was Dean’s response, his voice rough.</p><p>     “Well, Dean Winchester,” Cas began, “despite everything that was going on. Do you want to know what my first thought was when I saw you?” At Dean’s wordless shake of his head he continued, “It was how absolutely beautiful you are.” This time Dean felt his whole face redden in a blush, but he kept eye contact with the blue eyes of the other man.</p><p>     “My second thought,” Cas continued, “is how much I wanted to kiss those pouty lips of yours. Can I do that? Can I kiss you, Dean?”</p><p>     Dean clear his throat, but his voice was still rough as he gave a single answer, “Yes.” The second that word left Dean’s lips, Cas’s lips were on him. A hand creeped up the back of his neck, and then threaded into his hair while simultaneously holding Dean’s head in place. Cas first sucked Dean’s bottom lip into his mouth before giving a gentle nibble, causing a shiver to travel down Dean’s body and whimper to leave him. Cas’s tongue slid along his bottom lip, and Dean was quick to open his mouth and grant him entrance. Cas’s tongue delved in and wrapped around Dean’s own, and Dean moaned into the kiss as he used the belt loops on Cas’s jeans to tug him closer and nearly groaned again at the hardness he felt poking at his hip. The two made out some more before Cas pulled away to start kissing his way down Dean’s neck. The man must have been leaving marks in his wake with how hard he was sucking. There was a tug at his ear lobe before Cas’s rough voice asked, “And then all kinds of fantasies of what I want you to do to me came forth. Can I tell you about one, Dean.” Dean’s quick nod was all he could manage at this moment.</p><p>     “There were so many, Dean, it’s hard to choose. How about I push you down on that bed and sit on your dick. I’ll ride you nice and slow. You’ll want to thrust up,” Dean gave a quick nod in agreement, “but you better not. No moving, no touching, and no coming without my say so. Just taking my slow, sweet ride. You’ll be begging, Dean. Begging to touch me. Begging to fuck me. Begging to come. How does that sound? Would you like that, baby?”</p><p>     Dean let out another whimper as there was a gentle nibble on his neck. Not trusting his voice, he quickly nod his head. Wanting Cas to stop talking about it, and just get on with it already.</p><p>     “No, Dean. Say it. Let me hear you say it.”</p><p>     Dean cleared his throat before his rough voice answered, “Yes. Please. Please, Cas.”</p><p>     “Mmm. Please what, baby,” Cas asked before latching onto a particularly sensitive spot just below Dean’s ear.</p><p>     “Touch me. Ride me. Please, Cas. I want it,” Dean answered, both pleading and giving permission.</p><p>    As soon as those words were spoken, Cas took a step back from Dean. He whined in protest, but was quickly silenced when Cas gave a gentle nudge towards the bed.</p><p>    “Undress for me, Dean,” Cas demanded.</p><p>    Dean never undressed so fast in his life, and was relieved to see that Cas did not waste time in undressing either. The man had even pulled a new bottle of lube and a condom, seemingly out of know where. At Dean’s raised eyebrow and amused smirk, he finally got a blush from the other man.</p><p>    “I was merely hopeful this would happen,” Cas defended.</p><p>    “Mm-hmm,” Dean teased. He didn’t get a chance to tease anymore because a gentle push made him fall back on the bed. Cas was quick to clamber on top of Dean, straddling his hips, before starting another kiss, this one rough and demanding.</p><p>    “A part of me wants to take my time,” Cas stated after pulling away from the kiss, “and get to know every inch of this gorgeous body of yours.” Cas sat up from the kiss, his eyes traveling down to Dean’s chest. “But I’m afraid this day has wiped all energy and patience from me, and all I want to do is to get right down to having you begging and screaming for me.” Cas rolled his hips, grinding his bottom against Dean’s trapped and hard dick. Dean let out a moan, immediately trying to thrust up to get more friction.</p><p>    “Yes, just like that, Dean,” was Cas amused voice, “but not to worry. I’m going to make this so good for you,” the man promised.</p><p>    Cas did not waste time in lubing up and prepping himself with his own fingers before he was finally sinking himself down onto Dean’s cock, slowly inch by inch. Dean let out a groan as his head fell back on to the bed. When Cas was finally seated comfortably in Dean’s lap, they both let out a loud groan.</p><p>    “Mmm. I knew this would feel good. I love the feel of you inside of me, baby,” Cas gasped out as he slowly started lifting himself back up again, before lowering himself back down on a hard downward thrust, while squeezing Dean’s cock inside of him. Dean moaned again, before lifting up his hips to thrust up into Cas, but then those large thighs squeezed around Dean’s hips, keeping him in place.</p><p>    “Ah-ah,” Cas teased, “remember what I said. No fucking. Just feeling, Dean.”</p><p>    Dean let out a whimper in response as his hands clenched at the sheets below him. Cas continued his slow ride, making sure to squeeze Dean’s cock with each deep thrust with his muscles. Cas let out a moan before saying, “Fuck, Dean. You make me feel so full. You’re so good, Dean.” At those words, Dean let out a moan as his body writhed in place.</p><p>    “Oh,” Cas let out a chuckle, “someone liked that. You like hearing how good you are, baby?” Cas lifted his body back up all the way to the tip of Dean’s cock, and let his body drop down in another rough and deep thrust.</p><p>    “Ah! Fuck,” Dean moaned out, and clenched at the sheets in his hands tighter, “Yes! P-please…please, Cas,” he pleaded.</p><p>    “Yes? What is it, Dean,” Cas teased as he rolled his hips back into that slow and easy ride.</p><p>    “C-can I move? Please? Or touch you,” Dean looked pleadingly up at the other man.</p><p>    “Mmm…not just yet, Dean. But I tell you what. Where else can I touch you? Tell me how else I can make you feel good.”</p><p>    In the past Dean has chosen to keep this sensitivity to himself most times, but he did not hesitate to answer Cas in this moment, “My nipples! Please touch my nipples!” Instantly, Cas’s fingers were pinching and pulling at Dean’s nipples, and he reveled at the tingles that sent down his body and straight to his dick. Dean moaned out loud again, cursing as he continued to restrain himself from moving. Cas let out another chuckle.</p><p>   “You do love that, handsome. It’s a shame that I do not have my toy box with me. All the fun we could be having with these sensitive nipples,” Cas stated with a particularly hard tug, ringing out another cry from Dean.</p><p>    “F-fuck,” Dean moaned, “please.”</p><p>    Cas didn’t respond to Dean’s plea. Instead the man gave a slow, deliberate roll of his hips. Dean let out a whimper as his feet kicked at the bed in his strain to keep from thrusting up. He needed to make Cas moan, to scream; but he needed to obey and be good more.</p><p>   “Mmm,” Cas continued, as if Dean wasn’t falling apart beneath him with the slow rhythm his hips gave, “I could have you tied down to this bed, and some vibrating clamps attached to those sensitive nipples. I’ll keep a cock ring on you while I ride you rough and hard,” Cas let out a gasp as his thrusts down on to Dean’s dick sped up, “Oh, fuck, Dean, that’d be amazing. You’d make such pretty sounds..”</p><p>    Dean wasn’t going to last long, and Cas’s words were not helping. Cas had return to hard thrusts down onto Dean’s cock, gasping and moaning with each thrust, letting out praises for Dean. Cas shifted his hips at a different angle, and he let out scream of his own. That was Dean’s breaking point.</p><p>    “Can I touch you? I want to make you cum. Please let me fuck you,” Dean whimpered out as he looked pleadingly up at the gorgeous man riding him, and nearly sobbed with relief when Cas finally nodded.</p><p>    “Yes, Dean. Touch me. Fuck me just like this. Make me cum, baby.”</p><p>    Dean didn’t need to be told twice. He quickly grasped Cas’s hips in a hard enough grip, that he was certain would bruise by morning. He nearly let go to apologize, but Cas let out another moan before saying, “Yes, Dean. Fuck me, hard. Make me scream.”</p><p>    Dean did just that. As soon as those words left Cas’s mouth, Dean let his grip on Cas’s hips tighten some more while he tightened the muscles in his abs at the same time. He let loose with his thrusts. Bucking up into Cas, each thrust rougher and harder than the last. Dean shifted and was awarded when Cas screamed in pleasure.</p><p>   “Yes! There, Dean! Right there. Don’t stop,” Cas cried out.</p><p>   Dean made sure to hit Cas’s prostate with every thrusts, ignoring the burn that had spread throughout his abdominal muscles. Looking up at the gorgeous man, with his head fallen back and his screams getting louder and louder, Dean could tell Cas was close, and Dean has been close since before they started, and he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer.</p><p>   “I need to come. Please, can I cum,” Dean pleaded.</p><p>   One of Cas’s hand grasped his own cock, stroking it, while using his other hand to pinch and tug at his own nipples.</p><p>   “With me, Dean. Will you cum with me,” Cas gasped out.</p><p>    Instead of answering verbally, Dean tightened his grip on Cas’s hips and doubled the pace of the rough thrusts into Cas, the burn in his abs now screaming at him. It wasn’t long until he couldn’t hear Cas’s moans and screams over the sound of his own. He couldn’t focus on anything except the feel of Cas’s tight heat wrapped around his cock and the feel of a different warmth, separate from the workout his abs were getting, traveling through his body. He was barely holding back the need to come now.</p><p>   “Fuck,” Dean screamed, “Cas! Please!”</p><p>   “Now, Dean! Cum for me, baby.”</p><p>   Then Dean let go, screaming Cas’s name as he did so. Spots were dancing in his eyes, but the feel of wet warmth hitting his chest told him that Cas had come too, and that was when he blacked out. When Dean finally blinked his eyes back open again, he realized he must have only been out for a few minutes because there was the feeling of a warm and wet wash cloth wiping away the cum and sweat from his body. A chuckle from above broke the silence.</p><p>   “There he is,” Cas’s voice rumbled, “you were amazing, Dean. So beautiful.”</p><p>   Dean gave a pleased moan as he clumsily reached in Cas’s direction, wanting to cuddle. Unfortunately, Cas let out another chuckle as he moved away from Dean, who pouted in response.</p><p>   “Not just yet, handsome,” Cas stated amused, “let me finish cleaning up, and then I’m all yours.”</p><p>   Dean gave an unintelligible grumble, but let his hand drop back to the bed and closed his eyes for what he thought was just a couple of seconds, but the feeling of Cas snuggling against him and his head tucking under his chin told him he must have blacked out once again if he missed the sounds of Cas cleaning up. Dean let out a pleased moaned as he wrapped his arms in a tight hold around Cas, feeling relaxed now that he was holding the other man in his arms. Sleep claimed him once again, and this time for the rest of the night.</p>
<hr/><p>     When Dean woke up again it was to be greeted to the bright sun shining through a small crack in the curtains, right into Dean’s eyes. Quickly shutting his eyes, Dean rolled over with a sleepy groan, arm reaching out for the warm body that slept in his arms throughout the night. When his arm only met air before dropping to the sheets like a dead weight, Dean’s eyes opened to be greeted with an empty bed. Shooting up from the bed and looking around, revealed Dean to be alone in the motel room. Dean looked back down at the empty sheets, as uninvited feelings of hurt and disappointment filled him. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised, had even told himself over and over again before Cas showed up last night that this would be for one night. Told himself repeatedly that there is no way this will work for long term, that there is no way Cas would wait around for a man with only 3 dollars in his name, who lives out of cars and motels as he hunts for monsters no one wants to believe in. Who would want that?</p><p>     Except, despite all of that, he was still disappointed. He thought the two of them had something. A connection? A bond? No, he wasn’t ready to hear wedding bells or make vows; but he wanted to explore more of this feeling. He wanted to know what it would be like to spend a night in, not for sex, but just to be in the presence of someone who cared. Someone who was not friend or family, but an intimate partner.</p><p>     A buzz from the night stand jerked Dean from his thoughts. He looked over to see his cell phone, green light blinking to alert him of new notifications. Letting himself drop back down to the bed with a sad sigh, Dean grabbed for his phone. Checking it he was surprised that he had 20 notifications that consisted of missed calls, voicemails, and unread text messages. Checking the time revealed it to be almost noon. Dean cringed at the time, and even more when he realized that majority of missed calls, voicemails, and texts were from what must be a very worried baby brother. Woops.</p><p>     Dean was about to call Sam back and brace himself for a chewing out, but then he was surprised to see that some of the unread texts were from Cas. Hopeful joy filled his chest as he quickly selected the unread texts from Cas.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Cas-10:00am: The hospital called. I had to go pick Jo up, and then I’m sure she is going to want to be back in her own home as soon as she is discharged. You looked so peaceful, I didn’t have the heart to wake you up.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Cas-10:02am: Until next time, Dean Winchester. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Cas-10:10am: Incase that last text wasn’t clear enough… I definitely want to see you again. I can’t promise adventure or monsters. But I can guarantee a movie, questionably edible food made by yours truly, and a night-mare inducing conversation about the bee crisis (it’s serious stuff you know). </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Cas-10:11am: So what do you say?</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>     By the time Dean finished reading the texts, his cheeks were hurting by the large smile that stretched across what he was sure were blushing cheeks. Dean quickly schooled his features, clearing his throat as he looked around the room as if there was someone there to catch Dean in the act of melting into a pile of goo before quickly texting back a response.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dean-12:05pm: I say hell yes… u nerdy sap </em>
  <em>😉</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>      Try as he might, Dean couldn’t shake the goofy smile from his face as he sent a quick text to his brother before hopping in the shower. Excitement filled him as he got ready for the day because despite what Cas said, Dean knew many adventures awaited them. The best kind of adventures. And Dean couldn’t wait to get started.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>